DisneyWorld!

So, 2 weeks ago was spent at DisneyWorld with Kristie and some of the Jixsters. I’m still trying to recover! I ended up with a sinus infection last week, and it’s really trying to hang on. Ugh.

Anyway, DisneyWorld was a lot of fun, a lot of walking, a lot of happy kids, a bunch of not-so-happy kids…really, I don’t know who I fell more sorry for – the tired, cranky kids, or the tired, cranky parents. Although, I do have to say that I would expect a five-year-old to be cranky after all that over-stimulation, all that waiting in line, and no nap.

Let me share a few pictures with you.

Sunday – Magic Kingdom…

Kristie and I both got in around lunch time. Our plan was to have lunch and head to the Kingdom. I mean, come on, we are in our 40s and have never been to DisneyWorld. We’re girls. We HAVE to see Cinderella’s Castle. We got a call from Mark saying he was in the Kingdom, ready for lunch, did we want to meet him? So we did. He was a great guide…even though it was his first visit to the World, he’s been to the Land many times.

I really just wanted to ride the teacups! I know, I know…it’s a kiddie ride! But, aren’t we all kids somewhere deep inside? We went on Space Mountain – which was dark! That’s not what I was expecting. I also wasn’t expecting to have to be rescued from the bowels of Space Mountain by a Disney SWAT team…we were probably 10 seconds or less from the end of the ride when we came to a stop. In the dark. Inside Space Mountain. After a few minutes a handful of cast members came to our rescue – and our “spaceship” was pushed to the finish line. (Don’t worry, Kristie and I went back another day so that we could have the full experience!)

So, the first pictures:

Cinderella's Castle

Me on the teacup ride

And, of course, we met Mickey and Minnie Mouse in ToonTown.

Mickey, Me, Minnie

On Monday, we decided we’d go to Animal Kingdom in the morning so that we could do the Safari Ride before it got too warm (and it was pretty warm and SO humid!) We met Mark and Angelique and did the ride together. We saw a lot of animals! But, there weren’t really all that many other things we wanted to do at AK. We rode Expedition Everest, which was fun – and not too scary! Kristie and I left Mark and Angelique around that time and went to the Tree of Life. It is very cool. We watched the 3D movie based on “It’s a Bug’s Life”. It was neat, but definitely not as good as Mickey’s PhilharMAGIC at MK.

Tree of Life

Then, Kristie and I spent the afternoon at MGM/Disney Studios. Unfortunately, it rained in the afternoon, and our ponchos were back at the resort. Bummer, dude. So, we are both now the “proud” owners of DisneyWorld ponchos. Oh, yeah…we’re stylin’! After waiting at THE FRONT OF THE LINE for the Backlot Tour for at least 30 minutes, the ride was closed because someone saw lightning. Ugh. So, we went on the Great Movie Ride, looked at footprints in front of Mann’s Chinese Theatre, walked around a LOT, and got back to the FRONT OF THE LINE for the Backlot Tour. We had to wait, again, but at least the ride went off this time. We got to experience a 4.something simulated earthquake, which was pretty cool. We also took a drawing class and drew Mickey! We accidentally met up with Jayne at supper time, which was nice. We visited with her for a while, then went back to the resort.

Sorcerer's Hat

Wednesday, we thought we would get our souvenir shopping done at Downtown Disney. We also scheduled tea at the Grand Floridian (an Epcot resort). If you can’t find it in Downtown Disney, I don’t think the product exists. I do have to say I was very disappointed in the number of character postcards available. We took time to peek in to the Bibbidy-Bobbity-Boutique. How cute! Let me tell you, I was a little jealous of all the little girls in their princess outfits and fancy, sparkly, tiara’d hair-dos! I think we were able to get most of our shopping done while there.

Then, it was off to Epcot and high tea. We both had “high tea”, so got sparkling wine, tea, tea sandwiches, a little fruit tart, foie gras, and a dessert selection. We chose to have the Mad Hatter tea – it was wonderful! Kristie took a bite of her foie gras, but, YUCK! I’ve tasted it before, and have no desire to eat it, again. I thought it was good of me to eat the cucumber and watercress sandwich!

Tea cup and sugar bowl

Thursday morning we got up early to “open” Epcot and get FastPasses for Soarin’. It was fun to see the characters opening the park! Turned out we didn’t need a FastPass for Soarin’, it was less than a 5 minute wait. I was a little worried about this ride because your feet dangle in the air…and I don’t like that much. However, this is a VERY cool ride. We only did it once, but I would have done it again. We went to the Imagination Center and “met” Figment…what a cute, WDW only, character! We missed getting “Year of a Million Dreams” fastpasses by thismuch. The two people who went through the store behind us got them. Bummer. Then, we went over to Mission Space. In line, the people right in front of us got the all-day fastpasses. Bummer, again. Apparently, Kristie and I don’t look like we need any dreams fulfilled. Do I have news for Walt and his Cast Members!

Anyhow, we did the “less intense” side of Mission Space first. It was neat, but VERY low-intensity! So, we went back later and did the “more intense” side…which still wasn’t scary. We also waited about 20 minutes to do Fast Track. I think that was one of the best rides we did! Well worth the wait!

Eventually, we made our way to WorldShowcase. My only “must meet” was Eeyore. And, we got to meet Eeyore, Pooh, and Tigger all together!

Eeyore, Pooh, me, Tigger

Of course, the most familiar Epcot site is Spaceship Earth, the giant golf ball made of an aluminum alloy and over 11,300 panels. I have a zillion pictures of it. But this is my favorite:

Spaceship Earth

Friday, we took the day off, and went to visit Aunt Cyndi. We got the rental car early in the a.m. – with only a little drama. I left my driver’s license back at the resort – it’s really hard to rent a car without one. So, Kristie ended up renting, driving, etc., etc., etc. We drove down to Homestead to see the Coral Castle…a monument to unrequited love. Hmmmmmmm. It was cool, but I don’t know if it was worth a 4 hour drive and $9.75. (Not to mention the $16 or so in tolls!) If you want to learn more about it, the website is www.coralcastle.com .

Coral Castle

We drove across Alligator Alley to get to Aunt Cyndi’s. Because the weather was warm, the alligators weren’t out on the road. We did see ONE, though. You’ll have to look closely, but he is right at the edge of the water near the trees – facing left.

Alligator!

At Aunt Cyndi’s house, we went for a boat ride, saw dolphins (although there is no photographic evidence, you’ll just have to take my word for it!), lots of birds (cormorants, skimmers, pelicans, cranes, etc., etc., etc.) a shunken ship, and the Gulf of Mexico. When we got back, Max was at the house. We didn’t think we’d get to visit with him, too, so it was a bonus! We had a nice dinner of chicken enchiladas, and a lot of laughter. Unfortunately, we had to be up really, really early Saturday morning, so had to end our visit around 8:30.

Dolphin water ripple....really

Saturday morning we met at 7:15 a.m. for our group photo. 7:15! We had gotten back to the resort around 1 or 1:30 a.m., up at 5:45 to shower and return the rental car. Two long days in a row. After breakfast, we had a private bus to Epcot where we spent the morning doing a scavenger hunt. Kristie and I were teamed with Marnie, Susan, and Laura. They were great teammates! We didn’t win, but we had a lot of fun. Did I mention that Spaceship Earth is made of over 11,300 panels made of an aluminum alloy? Yeah, we were on a scavenger hunt! And in case you are ever asked, you can find the following at Club Cool (a Coca-Cola sponsored spot where we can try different Cokes from around the world).

Club Cool

After a well-deserved afternoon nap, it was back to Magic Kingdom for one last spin around on the teacups! We also rode the carousel and Snow White’s Very Scary Adventure. Then, back to Epcot for our dessert buffet and premier seats for Illuminations. The Illuminations show was WAY cool! And, we did have great seats right on the edge of the lake.

Illuminations

Then, we said our goodbyes, as some friends were leaving very early Sunday morning. Susan and Dana did a great job planning and keeping everything running smoothly.